Serif Cicek – Director
Serif Cicek was born in 1992 in Amed, Northern Kurdistan (Turkey). During his studies, he worked on numerous film projects in Istanbul as an assistant production designer and assistant director. In 2017 and 2018, he worked in Northern Syria as part of the Rojava Film Commune. He then moved to Germany and worked as a director and producer for Art Records Production. At Art Records, he directed and produced numerous music videos and TV shows. He recently released his first documentary film, “Prison or Exile,” which is currently being shown throughout Europe. Simultaneously, he serves as the European representative of the Rojava Film Commune.
Filmography:
1. Ji bo Azadiye/The End Will Be Spectacular (2019/Assistant Director)
2. Gefängnis oder Exil (2021/Author and Director)
3. Blackberry Season (2021/Post-Production Coordinator)
4. Kobane (2022/Co-Producer)
Onur Güler – Producer
Onur Güler was born on September 2, 1988, in Malatya, Turkey. He began his engineering studies at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara and has been living in Duisburg, Germany since 2011. In addition to producing documentaries, Güler is one of the founders of Özgür TV Media and works as a journalist and video maker. Alongside his hundreds of special programs as a journalist, he also produced the documentary “Prison or Exile” by Serif Cicek in 2021.
Orsola Casagrande – Co-producer
Orsola Casagrande was born in Venice and is a journalist. She worked for 25 years at the daily paper Il Manifesto, reporting from Ireland, the UK, Turkey, Kurdistan, Catalonia, and Cuba. Casagrande is currently based in the Basque Country. She has written and directed the following films: IRA (1993, for RAI 2), Berxwedan (2007), 301 (2008), and Con lo Que Tenemos (2010). Additionally, she collaborated with Metin Yegin on his feature films Grev (Strike) and Uç Kadin, Bir Grev (Three Women, One Strike).
Alexis Kalk – Co-producer
Alexis Kalk was born in 1984 in Paris, France, and grew up in Istanbul. He is one of the founders of Nor Zartonk, Nor Radio, and the Armenian Culture and Solidarity Association in Istanbul. Kalk played an active role in the Camp Armen resistance. He campaigns in Europe and Turkey for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the establishment of peace between the peoples. Additionally, he serves as the European representative for Nor Zartonk. Kalk currently resides in Germany, where he studied mechanical engineering.
Mesut Ethem Kavalli – Script Consultant
Mesut Ethem Kavalli was born in Heilbronn, Germany, in 1973. He completed primary and secondary school in Yavu, near Sivas/Yıldızeli. After graduating from the Sivas Industrial Vocational School’s Machine Model Department, he returned to Germany. His work titled “Eksik Kalmış Hikâyeler – Unfinished Stories,” which consists of family stories from survivors of the Armenian and Pontos Genocide, was published in 2021. Kavalli is a member of the “Group of European Writers from Turkey” and the “Verein der Völkermordgegner e.V.,” an organization that has been advocating for genocide recognition and justice for many years. He works in the quality management department of an industrial company.